Biological control in chestnut cultivation: criteria for a sustainable management.

Chestnut stands are still an important resource for European mountain regions either for fruit and wood production or for landscape and recreational value. Diseases and pests can severely affect cultivation but their control needs to respect the ecological equilibrium of this stands which are mainly forest ecosystem. In the last years researches camed out in Italy and in other European country were focused to define criteria to obtain a good biological control of the main phytosanitaty problerns: chestnut blight, ink diseases and cydia damages. The natural spread of hypovirulent strains of Cryphonectria parasitica has enhanced the spontaneous recovering of many chestnut stands and now silvicultural management, artificial inoculation and biological wax for grafts protection are available to maintain or increase the hypovirulence effectiveness. Soil management by means of manuring proved to be useful in the control of ink disease foci, aiming to restore natural competitors to Phytophthorae. Pheromones for cydiae monitonng were improved recently and techniques of mating disruption are going to be tested. The possibility to have cheap and effective biological control methods is needed to maintain and increase chestnut cultivation sustainability